Accidentally removed WSL Ubuntu via Remote Explorer — no confirmation, entire data lost

[hui-cyber]

Issue Description
While using Visual Studio Code v1.100.0 on Windows 11 24H2, I encountered a serious data loss issue due to the current behavior of the Remote - WSL extension.

In the Remote Explorer panel, I right-clicked my WSL2 Ubuntu distribution and chose the "Remove" option. A prompt appeared asking if I wanted to delete it — but I assumed this would only remove the item from the Remote Explorer UI or disconnect the session.

To my shock, it completely removed the entire WSL distribution, effectively performing wsl --unregister, which deleted all my files — including everything in /home/username and all installed packages. There was no mention that this would lead to permanent and irreversible data deletion.

This caused critical data loss for me, as I had important development files and personal configurations in that environment.

Steps to Reproduce
Install Remote - WSL extension.

Open the Remote Explorer in VSCode.

Right-click a WSL distribution (e.g., Ubuntu).

Click "Remove".

A basic confirmation dialog appears.

After confirming, the entire WSL instance is deleted, including all files.

Expected Behavior
The confirmation dialog should explicitly warn that this action will permanently delete the entire WSL distribution and all associated files.

Ideally, there should be an option to export/backup the WSL environment before such an operation.

Actual Behavior
After clicking “Remove” and confirming, the system executed something equivalent to wsl --unregister.

The entire Ubuntu distribution was deleted without any chance to recover.

My ext4.vhdx file and all files under /home/username were erased.

Feature Request / Improvement Suggestions
Please revise the wording of the confirmation dialog to be more explicit and alarming (e.g., “This will PERMANENTLY delete all data from this WSL distribution. Continue?”).

Consider adding an option to export/backup the WSL distribution before unregistering.

Maybe restrict such actions to a dedicated settings menu instead of placing it in a casual right-click context menu.

System Info
VSCode Version: 1.100.0

Windows Version: Windows 11 24H2

Remote - WSL Extension: Latest version (as of May 2025)

WSL Version: 2

Distribution Affected: Ubuntu

Reproduction Rate: 100% (tested on a new WSL install)

Impact
This incident caused me to lose critical project files and configurations, and I had no idea that the “Remove” action was equivalent to wsl --unregister. I strongly believe more protection and clarity is needed for destructive actions in the UI.

Thank you for your consideration. I hope this feedback can help prevent other users from suffering similar losses.
Personal note:
I am a graduate student, and my research and development work heavily depends on the WSL Ubuntu environment. This incident resulted in the complete loss of all my research code, datasets, scripts, and configuration files, severely affecting my academic progress. The current “Remove Distribution” design is dangerously misleading.
I truly did not expect that such a simple and casual UI operation in VSCode could lead to the complete deletion of an entire operating system and all of its data. I sincerely urge the VSCode team to address this issue to better protect researchers and developers who rely on WSL.

[hui-cyber]

Here is a screenshot of the right-click menu where I chose "Remove":

[mallowsc]

What part of the prompt was confusing? The prompt says it will permanently delete the distro and the data within it. The only improvement that would emphasize its importance here is a part to type "DELETE" or something.

[hui-cyber]

I'm here to seek help. As we all know, VSCode is a groundbreaking and brilliant tool — it's truly one of the most important development environments of our time.
All of my research and code from the past year were stored inside that WSL environment, so losing everything in an instant was both heartbreaking and frustrating.
There are a few points I want to clarify:
When I clicked "Remove", I didn't expect it to immediately and irreversibly delete the WSL distribution. It didn't go to the Recycle Bin or offer any recovery option — everything was simply gone after confirmation.
The word "data" in the prompt led me to believe that only some local VSCode-related metadata or settings would be removed, not the entire WSL system. I think the dialog could be much clearer by stating something like: “This will unregister and completely delete your WSL system and all its contents.”
I was also surprised that such a destructive action could be triggered with just a right-click in the UI — I didn’t realize VSCode had enough permission to perform something equivalent to wsl --unregister directly.

If there’s any way to recover my data, I’d be extremely grateful for any advice or help. Thank you all.

I totally understand that for experienced users or developers, the current prompt may appear clear enough. But from an end-user’s perspective — especially when using VSCode's UI without expecting it to interface so deeply with system-level tools like WSL — it's extremely easy to misjudge the consequences.

That’s why I believe stronger warnings or a more explicit confirmation step (like typing “DELETE”) would provide an extra layer of safety, especially for those who rely heavily on WSL for daily development.

Again, I truly appreciate all the work the VSCode team and contributors do. I just hope this feedback can help prevent other users from experiencing the same kind of data loss I did.

[classicrocker883]

you gotta be trolling. how old are you? first of all.. it says "Delete", not "Remove" as you say.

secondly, I feel as though you are trying to put blame and responsibility on someone/something else for your mistake.

sure, you might have felt it was to remove, and not irreversibly delete all your data...permanently. but this is no ones fault but your own. you were warned and yet you continued. maybe stop to read the actual agreement.

well if the data was so important to you, you would have stopped everything you were doing immediately and tried system restore. either that or brought your hard drive to a recovery specialist. because if you didnt know, data that is "deleted" is still there in 1's and 0's. once you write over it though... its gone for good.

[mallowsc]

@hui-cyber ,the terminology "Remove" is never used during this process. "Delete", a prompt, "delete the distro" and "all its data" is spread throughout the entire way. I am truly sorry you lost the data and there is still a possibility you could potentially recover the data.

Do you do backups of your PC? Is this a fresh install of VSCode or an update? If an update, did you do it recently? Do you have system restore?

Unless you have a way to restore from a backup, I don't believe you can recover this. Once again, sorry to hear you lost that data.